On the heels of a busy Labor Day travel weekend, food-service workers at state-owned highway service plazas on Wednesday plan to declare their intent to unionize at a rally in Darien.
Organizers on Monday afternoon announced that almost 900 fast-food workers employed by several companies, including McDonald’s, Dunkin’ and Subway franchisees, will organize with the Hartford chapter of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The group is known for creating the national “Fight For $15” minimum-wage campaign.
Labor officials, joined by several state lawmakers, at McDonald’s Darien location on Interstate 95 northbound will also air dozens of wage-theft claims against the companies, alleging they have “systematically underpaid workers by failing to provide benefits” or additional pay required under the Connecticut Standard Wage Law.
The 32BJ chapter, which is the SEIU affiliate organizing the rally, says it plans to file the various complaints with the state Department of Labor.
The complaints are warranted, labor officials say, because the standard wage law requires that companies contracting with the state provide “appropriate” pay as written in the Service Contract Act, which establishes certain wage rates and benefits.
“Workers have documented the failure to pay wages in compliance with the law at three out of four McDonald’s franchisees operating at the service plazas, as well as at other fast food chains,” SEIU said in a release announcing the rally.
The state of Connecticut owns the land where all 23 service plazas operate, and through a concession agreement, national brands partner with private franchisees who employ the nearly 900-member food-service workforce.
Organizers say the largest employers of the service plazas include George Michell, who owns three of eight McDonald’s and all 23 Dunkin’ locations; and Paul Landino, who operates 18 of 20 Subway restaurants along the state highways.
Michell and Landino could not be reached for comment.
SEIU, which says it has over 175,000 members in 11 states and Washington, D.C., including 5,000 in Connecticut, has aimed its “Fight For $15” campaign at several low-wage chains, including McDonald’s.
McDonald’s could not be reached for comment Tuesday regarding SEIU’s latest labor fight levied against the chain.
The Chicago-based fast-food giant, one of the country’s largest employers, does not provide a minimum hourly rate of $15, but in March announced it will no longer lobby against raising workers’ pay.
In May, Connecticut became the seventh state to adopt a $15 minimum wage. The new law will gradually increase the state’s minimum hourly wage to $11 on Oct. 1; $12 on Sept. 1, 2020; $13 on Aug. 1, 2021; $14 on July 1, 2022; and $15 on June 1, 2023.
